Deepening the Value of Surveillance

Deep Learning has swept through the IT industry, bringing benefits and better classifications to a number of applications. Inspired by the way the human brain works, the technology uses a layered learning process to enable the computer to classify, store and access data, which it can then refer to for learning. This means it can use a whole image to recognise, rather than relying on separate elements of that image. This is a cumulative process – the more elements it has to draw on, the better the classification – thus, the better the ‘learning.’

The benefits of this technology for face recognition and image classification make it hugely valuable in the field of security. It touches on every aspect of the security industry – from facial and vehicle detection to behaviour analysis. This, in turn, starts to change the focus of security from being reactive to being able to predict problems before they happen.

Hikvision has taken this technology and innovated a family of products to maximise its use. The DeepInview IP camera range and the DeepInmind NVR range work together to provide all the power and benefits of Deep Learning. While the cameras provide the smart ‘eyes’ of the system, the NVR represents the analytic and storage capabilities of the brain. The products help to tackle security on two fronts – recognition, monitoring and counting of people, and recognition and detection of vehicles. This uses Deep Learning technology at its most effective – for its ability to classify and recognise thousands of ‘features.’

Obviously, this multi-layered approach uses a lot of memory and performance, which is one of the reasons why the technology has become much more widespread in the past few years. To put this into perspective, in the first stages of the technology, it took 1,000 devices with 16,000 CPUs to simulate a neural network; now, just a few GPUs are needed. Hikvision is partnering with the largest of the chipset brands – Intel and nVidia – to explore the possibilities of Deep Learning for the surveillance industry. Hikvision’s innovation also facilitates and improves on this. The H.265+ codec radically reduces transmission bandwidth and data storage capacity requirements. This means there’s no loss of quality even though the data being shared and stored is exponentially higher.

Applications are numerous. The technology could enable the system to provide a black list/ white list alarm, which could come in very handy in access control scenarios. It could also be used to recognise unusual behaviour – possibly allowing security staff to prevent an issue if people are found loitering nearby, for example.

The new premium range of products will further extend the quality and capabilities of security systems. They will also allow security professionals to start planning to avoid issues, rather than reacting to them. This could be the next evolution of the whole industry – using AI to change the world, one Hikvision solution at a time.